Update Notes: August 2017 Release

We are thrilled to announce the August build and introduce Gigantic’s newest mischief-maker, ORU! This new mid-range caster brings an entirely new set of tools to the battlefield, and we’re excited for him to join the rest of the Gigantic cast!

In addition to Oru, the August build introduces a ton of new features, improvements, and fixes based on feedback you provided on the last two builds from June and July. For this update, the biggest changes to the game rules impact creatures, the NPC allies you summon on points around each map. Back in the June update, we made an adjustment to the summoning rules: we changed them from a delayed summon to an instant summon. While this was incredibly helpful for new players who wander away from their defenseless creatures, it also removed much of the high-level strategy and counter-play inherent to the summoning system. With today’s build, we’ve tried to strike a middle ground between the two approaches by creating a system that offers strategic choices for mid-to-high level players without being too complicated for new players.

We're also introducing two other major features that should be welcome additions based on your feedback: the much-desired push-to-talk setting for our integrated voice chat, and custom lobbies. We hope they’ll help you interact with your team and play on your terms, and we look forward to hearing what you think about them!

More details on all the changes can be found below. Give them a read to get ahead of the competition, and we’ll see you on the airship!

WALLPAPERS

Devaedra's corruption takes hold in the August Update. Download the official wallpaper today!

NEW FEATURES!

INTRODUCING: ORU!

"Oru deals in fate and the future; the Eternal sees no reason why simple cards should be met with apprehension."

Oru, also known as ‘The Fortune Teller,’ is a mid-range damage dealer who shines in teamfights. His kit revolves around his ability to combo between his skills - dealing high damage while also providing utility to the team in the form of crowd control or the ability to peel away from a fight.

JUDGMENT (LMB/RT): Throw a 'Judgment' card at the target enemy. On hit, inflict JUDGMENT and burning.

THE BEAST (RMB/LT): Toss a spread of 3 'The Beast' cards. On hit, inflicts THE BEAST and slows.

THE JOKER (Q/LB): Place 3 cards as a row of traps at your feet. On trigger, the cards damage and push away enemies. This can only hit unique targets once.

COSMIC POWER (E/RB): Damages target area and reveals cards held by enemies. If they have a JUDGMENT, the skill deals damage. If they have THE BEAST, the skill dazes.

Try him out in the Practice Arena before picking him up in the shop! Ultimate Pack owner unlock Oru for free, and can play with him right away!

NOW AVAILABLE: ORU SKINS!

Along with the hero, Oru also has his first skin, now available in the shop. Pick up the Mordant, Voracious, and Garrulous skins today!

VOICE: PUSH-TO-TALK

The much anticipated Push-To-Talk feature is now available! This will default to ON for PC players, and lets you set a new push-to-talk key via the 'Keybindings' menu (default keybinding is 'X').

CUSTOM LOBBIES (BETA)

Introducing the beta version of custom lobbies! This feature allows teams to arrange 5v5 matches without requiring them to enter the general matchmaking pool. As a beta feature, the goal was to implement the system in a way that would allow us to quickly introduce it into the game while continuing to work on the feature behind the scenes. As such, it's worth a brief explanation of how you'll setup your own custom lobbies!

In order to play in a custom match, players must first form two full crews of 5 players. One of these crews will act as the "host" for the match, while the other crew will join the host's match. The hosting team's crew leader will then setup the match:

Navigate to the 'Play' tab and select the '(beta) Custom' option.

In the Custom lobby, select a map and generate a code for your match.

Once you hit 'Submit', you'll be ready to share your custom code with the crew leader of the team which you'll be playing against.

The joining crew leader then enters the custom lobby screen, where they will join the match:

Navigate to the 'Play' tab and select the '(beta) Custom' option.

Select the "Join" tab. There you can enter the code for the match given by the host.

Once this is complete, both teams will enter a match - going straight to the Hero Confirm screen!

Sounds complicated? Yes and no. We think that once players get the hang of it, they'll be able to create custom matches within a matter of seconds.

Note: Custom matches do not affect player progression such as badges, prestige, fortune cards, etc. and do not award currency. They also do not affect your skill rating or inflict penalties.

KNOWN ISSUES

You can find a full list of known issues with the beta build over on the official forum. We'll keep this list up-to-date with the most significant issues (and solutions) that are reported this month:

GENERAL UPDATES

AUDIO

Added a subtle audio tell when Voden and Imani have charged their shots to full power.

Added a pop sound when you receive a text chat message.

SETTINGS

Added the ability to lock or unlock minimap rotation. When turned on, the Dynamic Minimap setting will automatically rotate the minimap so your team is always on the bottom side of the minimap. When disabled, the minimap will not rotate, and will instead default the Aurion team to the bottom side of the map!

PROGRESSION & REWARDS

PROMOTIONAL SKINS

Fixed a bug where all promotional skins would display the message: "Only available in the Founders Pack."

SUMMONED CREATURES

GENERAL

The decisions you make as to when you summon or upgrade a creature and what type of creature you summon at any given time is critical to the high-level strategy of Gigantic. With the recent update to make creature summons and upgrades instant, we found that the system introduced some awkwardness to high-level play. This is why we're re-introducing a mechanic we call creature gestation.

When placing a creature on a Power circle, the creature will now remain in a defenseless, "summoning" state before it fully appears into the world. During this time, it is unable to fight or collect power, and is extremely vulnerable to enemy attacks.

We believe this change will improve the game in a few important ways:

It gives players a chance to recognize when the enemy team is summoning before it is complete.

It lets you know which creature is being summoned before it fully spawns.

It offers counter-play when a team decides to upgrade their creature: teams can punish each other for an ill-timed summon.

It significantly reduces the benefit of upgrading a creature in the middle of a fight.

It requires players to think much more carefully before deciding when to upgrade their creature, and which creature to upgrade.

For those familiar with how gestation worked previously, it should be noted that gestation is no longer affected by hero proximity as it was in the past. We wanted players to feel like they should protect their summons, but not necessarily feel like they are doing nothing while waiting for their creature to spawn - particularly if there is no immediate threat.

Reduced the channeling time to summon a creature from 6 to 3 seconds.

Young creatures now gestate for 3 seconds before spawning. This time is not affected by ally or enemy proximity.

Adult creatures now gestate for 20 seconds before spawning. This time is not affected by ally or enemy proximity.

Obelisks have a 1 second gestation time for both babies and adults.

CYCLOPES

The Yeti Cyclops now creates a single frost field at the wall's location.

The Young Yeti Cyclops no longer creates frost fields.

Fixed a bug where Heroes could get stuck in a Cyclops wall if standing where the newly-created wall spawns.

BATTLEGROUNDS

GHOST REEF

Fixed a bug where larger Heroes would clip through the terrain when using the leftmost jump pad from the airship.

Fixed a bug during Clash which would sometimes cause projectiles fired near the center of the map to be fired in random directions instead of where they were aimed.

HEROES

RMB/LT // CADOR'S COMMAND

Fixed a bug where Cador's Command could be cast while Focus-primed, interrupting the Focus attack.

F/LS+RS // TERRIFY

Fixed a bug where using Terrify on an invalid target would place Aisling in her weakened state.

RMB/LT // GRENADE

Smart Grenade upgrade: Fixed a bug where the Grenade would not trigger its visual or sound effects when impacting an enemy directly.